Arena Profile: Keith Smith

Keith Smith is the Director of Employment and Labor Policy at the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM).

In this capacity Smith is responsible for a number of high-priority policy issues for the NAM including union organizing legislation, occupational safety, employee leave, civil rights and other key employment and labor-related initiatives that impact manufacturing competitiveness and job-creation ability.

Smith joined the NAM in December 2005 as a Policy Analyst and later went on to serve as the NAM’s Director of Research. In this role, Smith was responsible for instituting a political and policy research program for the Association, developed advocacy materials to advance the NAM agenda and ensured that the NAM is a primary source for information on the manufacturing economy.

Before joining the NAM, Smith was a Federal Government Affairs Specialist at Tew Cardenas, LLP.
During the 2004 cycle he worked at the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) under Chairmanship of U.S. Senator George Allen. Prior to working at the NRSC, he had previously worked for former Senator Allen as an aide in his Senate office. Allen served as Chairman of the U.S. Senate High Tech Task Force, founded the Senate Economic Competitiveness Caucus and was a member of the Commerce, Small Business and Foreign Affairs Committees. Keith Smith is a graduate of the University at Buffalo and now resides in Virginia.

With over 11,000 member companies, the NAM is the nation’s largest industrial trade association, representing small and large manufacturers in every industrial sector and 350 member associations serving manufacturers and employees in all 50 states.

Keith Smith's Recent Discussions

POLITICO Debate: The Employee Free Choice Act-Rebuttals

Rebuttal: The Employee Free Choice Act represents the worst type of power-grab by special interests because, while it purports to help workers, it actually would threaten the very jobs those workers depend upon.

Our manufacturing economy has come a long way since the advent of the industrial era when pay was inequitable, working conditions were unhealthful and workers had no rights to file grievances or bargain. Since then, employers and workers have worked more closely to ensure American competitiveness and create jobs. Today there are many existing government regulations in place to provide balanced protections for workers.

As manufacturers continue to foster positive employee relations and conduct these relations in a spirit of mutual respect and fairness, the demand for unionization has diminished substantially.

Our current labor law system allows employees who wish to join a labor union to do so. Labor unions won 67 percent of private ballot representation elections conducted by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in the first six months of 2008. Eighty-two percent of likely voters wish to continue their ability to choose or not choose labor unions through secret ballot elections as they feel they are the best way to protect the individual rights of workers during union organizing efforts.

Much has been written about the effort to deprive workers of the right to a secret ballot when deciding whether they want a union, but another aspect of this legislation that causes even more concern is the provision for binding arbitration within 120 days. This would dramatically limit a manufacturers’ ability to implement business change and make critical economic decisions to strengthen their business and create jobs in the global economy.

POLITICO Debate: The Employee Free Choice Act-Rebuttals

The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) has united manufacturers in opposition as few other pieces of legislation have in recent years. That unity reflects the serious level of threat the bill represents to the manufacturing economy in the United States and our competitiveness.

By fundamentally shifting the nature of union organizing, contract negotiations and workplace relationships, this legislation in any form would do irreparable damage to the U.S. manufacturing sector, employers and employees alike. In a global economy – and in the midst of a global recession -- where businesses need every competitive advantage to stay alive, the law’s burdens could prove economically fatal.

The manufacturing sector has already lost 1.3 million jobs since 2008, and EFCA’s passage would only exacerbate the economic difficulties.

Our members value the relationship they have with their employees. Manufacturing employees earn 20 percent more than the rest of the workforce and 97 percent of National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) members provide health care benefits for their employees. However, organized labor groups and their allies often focus on exceptions to these practices when advocating in support of the EFCA.